Rectors

A Rector is a type of parish priest. However, the history of the Rector at St Marylebone Parish Church is more complicated than this simple definition.

In ancient times, St Marylebone Parish Church came under the authority of the Priory of S. Laurence de Blakmore in Essex, which appointed the priests for the Church with the title of Vicars.

The name Vicar comes from the word ‘vicarious’, as in to represent or act on behalf of; Vicars were sent from monasteries or priories of monks and friars to serve the local community and represent the motherhouse. Later the clergy were curates sent from the priory. They had the “cure” (or care) of the souls. This was confirmed by S. Roger, Bishop of London around 1235-36.

In 1525, the Priory was suppressed (effectively closed down) by King Henry VIII. He gave the title of Rector and all the authority and assets of the parish to Cardinal Wolsey. Wolsey passed it to the Deans and Canons of Christchurch, Oxford, who gave it to what would become Ipswich School. At the time of the English Reformation, historic properties and titles moved around especially quickly among the kings’ friends and enemies! In the later 1520s, Wolsey’s relationship with King Henry soured and, amongst other things, the King took the Church, title of Rector and all the rest for himself. In 1552, it was then given to Thomas Reeve and George Cotton, to be under the Manor and East Greenwich. Later, the Rectory was given by Elizabeth I to John Dixon, then in 1611-12 James I gave it to Edward Forcet (also spelt Fawcet). It was then inherited by his son Robert, then Robert’s sister Arabella, then Arabella’s son John Austen. The manor of the parish and the title Rector came as a package since at least 1650. For at least a hundred years before 1821 the Rector of St Marylebone was the Duke of Portland.

So, for hundreds of years the Rector of St Marylebone wasn’t a priest–it was simply a title that came with land and assets passed between Monarchs and their favoured subjects, the rich, and aspiring ruling classes. In 1821 the Government bought the ‘Rectory’ from the Duke of Portland and it was given to a priest (by an Act of Parliament, 57 Geo. III c. 98.), with the cure of souls for the parish (as it had been hundreds of years before, when under the friars of S. Laurence de Blakmore Priory). The Rector has been a Church of England priest ever since, with the care of the whole area of St Marylebone and indeed all the people in the area. Today the Rector is The Rev’d Canon Stephen Evans.